Parametric jaw platesGenerate a set of custom jaws!

If you have access to a 3D printer and want to create custom jaws for your Stickvise, you are in the right place. The Stickvise jaw model, designed using a free program called OpenSCAD, is built up from a list of parameters for things like width, height, and length. This makes it easy to modify the model without knowing anything about OpenSCAD, just follow my instructions below. If you want to delve deeper you can learn the basics of the OpenSCAD language and make even more changes.

After opening OpenSCAD, then opening "Stickvise_Jaws.scad", you should see the screen below.

Next step, go to the top menu and select Design -> Automatic Reload and Compile. This updates the 3D view of your design each time you save. Unless your model gets extremely complex, you should do this. The Stickvise jaw model should compile almost instantly after saving.

At any time you can export the model to STL for 3D printing by going to File -> Export -> Export as STL.

Final tip before we go over code. The 3D view is navigated using your mouse. To rotate the model drag left mouse over the view, to pan drag right mouse, to zoom roll the mouse wheel forward and backward.

OpenSCAD is a 3D compiler. This means it reads a text file full of commands and generates a 3D model based on those commands. Don't worry, You don't need to know any commands to use the Stickvise jaw model, all you will have to do is change some key values and save. In this section I will walk you through how to generate a variety of Stickvise jaw designs this way.

One thing to note, OpenSCAD is a millimeter language, to convert from inches I created a function called in_to_mm() that does the conversion. That's all you need to know. For starters lets change the jaw_length to 4 inches, your new code should be:

Save your file to view the changes. Your model should look like the image below.

The new model with height set to 1 inch

This jaw plate can now hold a wider PCB with taller components on the bottom side. Hopefully this demonstrates the power of OpenSCAD. In the next section I will walk through some other easy changes you can make to your custom jaws.

Ok now that you see how to remove it, set add_jaw_step back to true and save the code. This will add the rectangular step back so we can play with the height and depth.

The next two variables, jaw_step_height, and jaw_step_depth do exactly what you would expect. Use the drawing below as a reference.

Rectangular step drawing

Try playing with the depth and height. It is easy to create any size step you want. Just remember that you can cut all the way through the jaws if you make the height or depth too large. If you need more room, just increase the overall size of the jaws first. Experiment and try different things to get the shape you want.

A vertical slot pattern gives you a way to run wires past the edge of your PCB. This feature is best combined with the rectangular step and horizontal v-groove, but I have hidden those in the drawing below for clarity.